Posted on 04/27/2007 1:31:46 PM PDT by Nachum
Rockets slammed into Jewish towns while Palestinians attempted kidnapping
TEL AVIV – A massive Hamas rocket attack earlier this week was coordinated directly with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and members of his Fatah party, according to Hamas sources speaking to WND.
In the first rocket attack it claimed responsibility for in five months, Hamas Tuesday fired 39 Qassam rockets and 79 mortars from the Gaza Strip aimed at nearby Jewish communities. The projectiles were meant to serve as a diversion as the group attempted to storm an Israeli military base on the Gaza border to kidnap Israeli soldiers. The attacks occurred as Israelis nationwide celebrated the country's Independence Day.
Last night, Israel's major television newscasts quoted Israeli security officials stating the Hamas attack was carried out with the approval of Abbas, other Fatah members and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, the declared military wing of Fatah.
Fatah officials denied the report.
Today Abu Ahmed, the northern Gaza Strip commander of the Brigades, denied in a WND interview his group was involved in the attack.
But Hamas political sources and militants from Hamas' so-called military wing said the attack was indeed coordinated directly with Abbas and his Fatah party.
The Israel Defense Forces thwarted Tuesday's kidnap attempt and dispatched helicopters to intercept the gunmen behind it. Missiles were fired at Qassam launch pads in Gaza that had fired the large barrage of rockets.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided to only authorize the IDF to carry out a limited response to the Hamas attack despite mounting evidence, defense officials say, that indicates Hamas in Gaza is preparing for a large-scale conflict with Israel.
After Tuesday's attacks, Abu Abdullah, considered one of the most important operational members of Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' "military wing," told WND a cease-fire his group agreed upon with Israel last November is "officially over."
"We don't recognize Israel's right to exist. We will never allow Jews to remain in our lands. Today's attack was only a sample of what we can do. We have thousands of rockets ready to be shot. The cease-fire is officially over," said Abu Abdullah.
In accordance with the November truce with Gaza militants, the Jewish state largely has restrained itself from operating in Gaza while more than 200 rockets have been fired from the territory. Many of the rockets were fired by Abbas' Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
In January, a spokesman for Olmert said the Al Aqsa Brigades members firing the missiles from Gaza are not affiliated with Fatah and don't take orders from Abbas. She said the militants are directed by the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
But in a WND interview following the spokeman's remarks, Brigades commander Abu Ahmed said his group, including the militants launching rockets, is loyal to Abbas and coordinates "resistance operations" with the Fatah party.
"The Al Aqsa Brigades is the military wing of the Fatah and the President Abu Mazen (Abbas) is the chairman of the movement," Abu Ahmed said. "We are committed to our leadership, to Abu Mazen. All our activity is in accordance with the political line of Fatah, which consists of fighting the occupation until the creation of a Palestinian state. The rocket-shooting is part of this vision."
Most rockets fired recently from Gaza have been launched from the northern part of the territory, which falls within Abu Ahmed's jurisdiction in the Brigades.
Asked why Abbas distances himself from Al Aqsa's rocket firing, Abu Ahmed told WND, "Listen, we are aware of our president's (Abbas') declarations, but we are also aware of the international political system that brings the president to adopt this position."
No wnder some people call him OHMERDE.........
this is what happens when you appease these people.
Is there a red sat-phone line between Abbas and Dr. Rice to 'green light' these murderous terror-attacks more quickly?
Does WND really have Hammas sources? Just wondering.
There is only one appropriate answer (after eliminating the attackers) which is to move the boundary line forward half a kilometer. Any arabs whose dwellings fall on the Israeli side of the new line must be compensated, pushed through the line, and their property bulldozed.
Do it a couple of times and the arabs will get the message. Merely killing the attackers accomplishes little, because they have an endless supply of cannon fodder and they don’t care about the deaths of these people. Israel probably cares more about the death of the arab attackers than do the arabs themselves. The only pressure point that actually transmits pain is territory, the loss of it.
Every rocket that crosses the line into Israel territory must trigger the automatic seizure of a “security belt”, permanently annexed.
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